As the school term draws to a close in Queensland, so does it here at Cotter College. Amongst all the activity of packing up a years worth of living in Italia, visitors, museo/galleria visits etc, the cherubs have tried to complete a terms school work (from QLD distance education) in 4 weeks instead of 10 so that they can enjoy their last few weeks at Casa San Gabriel AND not do school work when they get back to Australia. They worked very hard (i.e. school on Saturday morning as well) and have slowly got there!
The class presented their maestro (teacher) with a car!!! Their generosity was overwhelming!!!
Grace’s Brisbane School of Distance Education (BSDE) teachers are currently gathering the necessary information they need for reporting for Semester 2. We were asked if we could also advise them about any extra-curricular activity for which Grace is involved. We received this request around the day that she got to drive one of the tractors which were clearing fields for next years grapes! Can’t wait to see her Report Card marks for field clearing!
Even though we have been away from home, and all the guests around us are on vacanza (vacation), it’s work work work for the Cotter family. We’ve needed to continue with our school work otherwise we’ll be getting behind and in catchup mode. Sounds simple, however, the natural distractions of their new school room is a little hard to compete with (see the vid below)!! Having Cuba (the dog) visit every so often ‘to check on progress’ really gets them back on task!!
Our school term started on Monday just as it has back in Brisbane. It goes for 10′ish weeks and we got our Term 3 materials from Brisbane School of Distance Education (BSDE) just before we left Umbertide. The students tried to leave the boxes behind (i.e. destruction of school property during the holidays – it happens everywhere)!
To mirror Brisbane’s school calendar we tried to angle for a PD day on Monday for the teacher and an extra day off for the students, however, the school board/Principal (she is one and the same) wouldn’t have it!
PD was going to consist of a morning lecture from a noted expert in the area of Group Socialisation. The topic was ‘Dealing with different personality types in the public forum’. The location was at this convention centre – http://www.thefriendspub.it/. Speaker was Barb Maid. This was followed by a staff bonding session in the afternoon at the same location…which saved moving from your stool.
Maybe it can be done on student moderation (CTJ) day…
